Sunday, February 7, 2016

Today on Newbie Corner, we have the talented young author, Aravind Sampath.

Hello Aravind, tell us a little about yourself. How did you begin writing?

Hi, Preethi ma’am. I’m a student pursuing mechanical engineering. I’m in my third year now. As to how I began to write, I’d have to have a little recap from my childhood. I was (still am) a great follower of my grandfather’s poems right from the ninth grade. He was my greatest inspiration. And then, I wrote a poem on parents that got published in my school magazine. Then, I didn’t write for a long time. I had some novel ideas in eleventh, but it didn’t get materialized as you know, twelfth got underway. And then when I joined engineering I tried my hand at short stories. I got enrolled in a social short story contest organized by Notionpress. As I was canvassing and promoting my story online, I met a lot of writer friends who were like minded. One was Ayan Pal. I met him through that contest. Since then till now he has been helping me out with my writing. Then, he told me about Readomania and another short story contest. Through Readomania, I met some really great friends who are still in touch. I got to meet another amazing gem of a person, Deepti Menon, who also helped me in pointing out the mistakes that I made in writing. I got my first story published in 2014. I had two more of my stories published in 2015. Looking forward to what 2016 has in store. It has been a good journey so far. *smiles*

What is your favorite genre in writing?

I like to experiment between genres and I love it. My stories that got published are, two sport-dramas and one romance, but I really wouldn’t want to confine myself to one genre. Considering all that, if I have to say one genre that stands out, that would be historical fiction and period-centric stories. I absolutely loved writing Love Through Ages (the one in A Little Chorus of Love)that is set in both pre and post independent India.

Who inspires you most and to whom would you dedicate your creative growth?

Like I said previously, my grandfather is my greatest inspiration to writing, and yes, Deepti Menon and Ayan Pal, the two wonderful writers, and my mentors. Also, I get inspired when I read Jeffrey Archer’s, Sidney Sheldon’s, Mario Puzo’s, and J. R. R. Tolkien’s works. As to whom I would dedicate my creative growth, it’s first and foremost, my parents, all the aforementioned writers and also my peers, namely Shyam, Kalvin, Srimathi, Purnima, Akshita, Niranjan, et al. It’s a really long list. *smiles*

What kind of a writer are you? Do you plot the entire novel/story or make it up as you write?

I’m a writer who is not biased to any genre. I’d love to be known as an ambitious writer than a romance writer or mythology writer. I don’t have the habit of plotting the entire novel/story beforehand. I’d have a vague idea as to how to carry the story forward and the story unravels itself as I write.

Do you have a favorite place to write or a scheduled time to write every day?

My favorite place to write is on the balcony of my house, A cup of steaming hot coffee, my diary and my childhood days parker pen, I’m all set to write. (smiles) I didn’t use to have a scheduled time allocated for writing. But recently, I’ve allocated my writing time in the late night, leaving the thoughts to wander from my head, pass through my hands and onto the screen (laughs). An Engineer by day and writer by night, that’s the story of my life and I wouldn’t want it altered in any way. *smiles*

Who are your favorite authors and what is the genre that you like reading most?

I need an extra sheet to make a complete list (laughs), but here’s my limited list in no particular order. I love reading Jeffrey Archer, Dan Brown, John Grisham, Suzanne Collins, John Green, Sidney Sheldon, J. R. R. Tolkien, Nicholas Sparks and Mario Puzo from the foreign side. R. K. Narayan, Vikram Seth, Amish Tripathi, Ravi Subramanian, Kirthi Jayakumar, Ashay Abbhi, Ayan Pal and Deepti Menon. As you can see from the list, I’m not genre-specific in reading as well. I love good literature.

Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?

I have a set of ideas for books as of now, just about a bunch of ideas. I’d like to see them all materialized as books ten years down the line. Of course, I wish I had nothing else to do but write. It is impossible, but I think it’s worth a try.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? What is it?

There’s not a genre that I detest writing about, but though I like to try and experiment with many different genres, I think I would never write about vampires and werewolves.

How much important do you think marketing is for the success of a book?

Marketing is as important and necessary as quality writing. I think the quality of writing, as well as marketing strategies, decide the success rate of a book.

What is the message that you want to convey to the readers through your writing?

I’d like to address the innumerable societal problems and convey what I think would be the best possible solution to it, in a non-preachy and yet not so subtle way.

Thank You Aravind! That was pretty interesting. All the best to all your future endeavors.